Prinz’ Perfect Record

Comments (0) By Michael Leaverton Wednesday, Feb 10 2010

Yvonne Prinz’ The Vinyl Princess is a young adult novel set in the East Bay, primarily in a used record store on Telegraph Avenue, featuring a 16-year-old clerk whose deep love of vinyl is matched by her nearly autistic command of it. These are dangerous themes, clearly. Tackle any one of the iconic subjects – the freakshow that is Telegraph, the history of rock, vinyl, Amoeba (or Rasputin, if you swing that way) — and people will be quick to check your work, eager to dismiss you as a hack. And don’t think you can hide behind the “YA” label — you won’t be forgiven for messing up the kids. Prinz succeeds beautifully, however, and no less a rock-purist crowd than Daniel Handler, Frank Portman, Terry Zwigoff, and Colin Meloy appear on the back of the book, blurbing admiration. Prinz had to succeed, really; failure isn’t an option when you own three high-holy churches and your credibility is on the line. Which is to say: Yvonne Prinz owns Amoeba Music, all of them. (For any young adults out there, don’t worry, there’s plenty of the usual YA stuff — boys, mom, dad, boys — to keep you entertained between the crap about your parents’ music.)